Bittercress
Bittercress belongs to sidewalkflowers. I honestly don't care if you use her, just tell me when you do. "This isn't an act!" "I can do it. By myself." Description Bittercress basically looks like a Nightwing with lighter gray coloring, which gives the appearance that she's fading away. She does not have a Sandwing tail barb, but there is a really small bulge on her tail. Her eyes are large and dark. She never eats a lot, even for a Sandwing, and as a result is super thin. She is strong, and she only ever fights as defense. She was born an animus but, upon discovering her power, that added to her already present self-loathing and she has sworn never to use her magic. She is very quiet and dislikes others' company. She is very much a loner and frightens away any possible friends. "Once upon a time, I was a dragonet." "''You? Cute and little?"'' History Now I'm going to go into an in-depth description of Bittercress's life because I feel like it. Enjoy! Birth Bittercress was born a few years after the events in The Brightest Night. Her mother was a Nightwing and her father a Sandwing. She was named after a forest plant. When her mother died of a snakebite, Bittercress (nicknamed Cress) and her father moved to a small desert village. Early Life Cress grew quickly. She was surrounded by mainly Sandwings, and she wondered why she looked so different. Although no one mentioned her appearance or made fun of her in any way, she wished she looked normal. When Cress was 2, she almost drowned on a visit to the ocean with her father. From that point on, she couldn't stand water or the cold. Age 3-8 Cress was a quiet dragonet, and enjoyed drawing and often sketched her friends, her father, and desert scenes and plants. When Cress turned 3, she discovered her animus powers while picking cactus spines out of her scales. She had accidentally trod on it, and was so angry and in pain she started to cry. She wished all of the spines could just disintegrate, and suddenly they did. Cress was horrified, especially because she had heard about all the awful things animus dragons had done. She desperately wished that she wasn't an animus, and decided to never use her power, hiding her ability from everyone. When Cress was 6, she attended Jade Mountain Academy for a year, but disliked being around so many other dragons, and left as soon as she could. It was about that age that she started developing feelings of not being good enough. As she kept making mistakes and accidents, common in life, she blamed herself and started to hate her weakness. She couldn't draw any longer, because she kept finding so much fault she just made herself miserable, and she couldn't swallow more than a few bites of food. Her father became worried for her, but besides a few talks, did not intervene. It isn't in Cress's nature to blame others, though, so later in her life she only thought of her father with fondness. When Cress was 7, her feelings of hatred began to intensify. She couldn't stand being with other dragons, not because of them, but because of how she interacted with them. She decided she needed to purify herself, and began a strict regimen, eating little and working herself half to death. For almost half a year she did not allow herself to rest, and constantly was on the watch for any mistakes she was in danger of making. She couldn't sleep, and although other dragons worried, nothing helped. She felt wretched, lonely, tired, and depressed, all the time. She often thought about killing herself and ending it all, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She wondered what it would be like to use her powers, but she had made an oath, and she was determined. She tried to convince herself that she wasn't an animus, but she could feel the temptation there, in the back of her mind. She pushed it away. When Cress turned 8, her father died. She was heartbroken, and left the small village she had spent her whole life in. She couldn't bear the pain of losing her only family member, and resolved never to get close to anyone ever again. She spent that year traveling Pyrrhia, never staying anywhere for too long. Bittercress and Crimson When Cress was 9, she met a dragon she would never forget. Crimson was smart, strong, handsome, and confident, and he was fascinated by her. Unwillingly, Cress fell in love. She loved his smile and his Skywing coloring and he praised everything about her. For a while, she forgot that she hated herself, and she began to see that it was alright to make mistakes, and it was alright if she was an animus. So she told him about her powers. Crimson was immediately intrigued and tried to get her to break her oath. He didn't understand her disgust with herself, and she began to remember her old feelings of self-loathing. She held on, though, not quite ready to leave him. Everyday Crimson tried to bring up the subject of her powers, but Cress forgave him again and again for hurting her emotionally like that. However, eventually she snapped. She was 10 at the time. Cress shouted at him, told him that she was never, ever going to use her animus powers, and if that was all he cared about, she didn't want to be with him. He told her that she should accept who she was born to be, and she resisted. Finally, heart crushed, Cress fled, flying as quickly away as she could. She would never love again. Age 10-30 At this time, Cress left behind her nickname, preferring to be known solely as Bittercress. She never stayed in one place for too long, always traveling, leaving behind her past and bad memories. She shut people out, and became increasingly lonely. Bittercress' Last Friend After a time, she ran into another dragon. Her name was Cinnamon, and she was a beautiful Mudwing. She met Bittercress by the sea, and identified her as a lonely, lost dragon. Bittercress was 31 years old. So although Bittercress tried to run away, Cinnamon followed her, constantly wearing down on Bittercress' armor until she was permitted to come close to her heart. For nearly two years they traveled together, and although Bittercress never could go back to the almost-happy dragon she was with Crimson, she relaxed and at times was bright and charming. Bittercress and Cinnamon liked to play mind games with each other, and take long, meandering flights, and see new places. They never did go to the Ice Kingdom, though. However, when Bittercress turned 34, she began to distance herself from Cinnamon. Cinnamon refused to let Bittercress leave, and tied strings around her heart, doing her best to keep the dragon close. Despite her efforts, Bittercress, although remaining friends with Cinnamon, went back to her old pattern of feeling like she needed to be purified, and of hating herself. Death When Bittercress discovered that she was an animus, she had wanted to live a long life, unlike so many other animus dragons, but that was not to be. While in the desert, Cinnamon got bit by a viper, and every dragon was powerless to save her. This was Bittercress' true friend, and after a time of worry and denial, she confessed her secret to Cinnamon. She was an animus. Bittercress told Cinnamon about her oath never to use her magic, but said that she would break that to save her. Cinnamon refused. She would rather die than have Bittercress do that, especially since Bittercress was always so hard on herself. But Bittercress had already made up her mind. This would be how she finally cleaned herself. Her hated animus powers would save her. She broke her promise, and managed to heal Cinnamon completely. However, there was a catch. Since she hadn't used her powers in so long, Bittercress was unable to just take away the wound, and so transferred it to herself. Cinnamon was horrified as she realized that Bittercress had sacrificed herself, and now would die a painful death. But to Bittercress, it was worth it. And, as fiery venom coursed through her veins, the last thought she had was that she was finally clean. "Cress, no, please don't!"' The wounded dragon pleaded. She smiled faintly. "I love you." Category:Characters Category:Hybrids Category:Females Category:Dragonets Category:SandWings Category:NightWings Category:Animus Category:Occupation (Explorer) Category:Deceased Characters Category:Content (Sidewalkflowers)